“The biggest thing about romals is people pick the wrong ones,” the Commerce, Texas, trainer said. “I like a soft, pliable romal that is a little smaller. There are a few men out there with ginormous hands, and they prefer the bigger romals. But if you have smaller hands, you should pick a smaller romal.”

Jay also discourages riders from using snaps to attach the romal to the bit.

“I don’t like the snap. Snaps will rattle and send a message up to that mouth. That spade is such an attuned tool that when you jingle with that snap, it will go clear up to the roof of their mouth because the spade is right there. When I see someone doing that, I can’t even look at it. I know what it’s doing to that horse. It’s making him numb-er and numb-er, and you want the horse to be as light as he can be.”

Although Jay makes leather keepers to attach his romal reins to the bit, he said if a rider wants to use snaps, he should attach the reins to a chain and then to a snap.

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The American Quarter Horse Association, located in Amarillo, Texas, is the world’s largest equine breed registry and membership organization.

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